Thimble for boiler-flues.



1. F. Mmmm. THIMBLE FORBOILER-AFLUES. APPLICATION FILED 'IUNE 9. 1915- /l//I/ /1I M m. w om w F. ,M J

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2g IQ .be earriedin `vevery engineers repairlrit 'andinay be .employed where -quick action-is necessary to make '-a temporary re- Yysiibstances at its end the ro-HN r. ncxnnna; or rnovinnncn, .nnonn ,isnann Tnnnnnn non BoILnn-rL-Uns.

readies.

To all whom zi concern:

Bein known that L JoHsY F.. MCKENA, fi

a citizen ofthe United States, and resident of the city of Providence, inthe'countyof Providenee and State of Rhode invented certain new ments Thiinbles for BoileI"-I*`lues, of Whichthe'ollowing isa specification.`

s Ilfhis invention relates to thimbles of the..

character izsedmore particularly vfor the protection; of.. the .exposed ends of boiler. nues, and .the object Aof this invention is to provide sucha thim'blel that may be ici-'ined complete by an automatic operation to' be readily appliedtotheziue of a new boiler tectionof its .exposed .endslto materially prolong the .life of the boiler.

pvhen again 'a number/of these devices pair on old' boilersv by forcing the thimbles into the end of a. .leaky tube .to vexpand and tighten the saine.-

e A further object o'the invention is to provi 'flange onthis thimblawhich adapted to cover and protect the :exposed end. of thel flue. from the direct-,action vof the lire' in the' fire box.

1 'A' further object of the inyentihn 'is to surface of the body portion 'as'it is v'forced into lexpand and tighteninner 'surfaceA drawing the same' down to .a thinentering edge so that there will be no shoulder on the 4inside ofthetube and Iso eiectually prevent the gathering. and lodging of'sediment, soot or other vforeign l eect of. which deposit is to cause rust andcorrosion at .thispfoi'nt which soon destroys vthe tube. jWith these. and other'objects in view, thel invention consists of certain novel features of. construction, as vwill be moredescribed, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims. I

In the accompanying drawings:

Fi re- 1- is a sectional'side elevation showing/a' portion of a boiler with the tubes entering the .fire box, show1ng`the tube ends Specification of Letters'atent.

Islan d, have and useful Improveto serve as .a reinforcement .and proproved character,

lb e'drawnand struck in a `or otherwise 'formed into *a short vtubular de a. greatlyl enlarged outwardly turnedv vbead 14.- on the surface of this i flange Patented Mai'. 2'?, 191 7.

Application filed une 9, 19.15. I Serial No. 33.001.

as being exposed to the direct action ofthe Fig. 2-jis a sectional side elevation shoW- ing 4a portion ofthe iie'plat with the flue' passing therethrough and being secured therein also showing one of my improved Hue thimbles as having Vbeei' 1.forced into one of the tubes and permanently, secured therein by thereof.

Fig. V3-. is afaee :view of afiiuelnplate showing the general .staggered arrangement ofiiues and the protecting eect of a' plurality' of my improved thimbles upon the exposed face -ofthis flue plate.

' Fig. 4* is a sectional side elevation showing a detail of my. improved flue thimbles ready to be positioned in-a tube? In the construction of expanding the' body "portion a 'sectionv'of soft -Swaging machine,

thimbles of my in'i-v iron may bodyy 10 having .an outwardly extending flange 12 at one end-fthe. body portion having anouter surface which is slightly tripered toward its entering edge 1l, for thev purpose. of enteringfthe tube and expanding andv tightening'thesame inits flue plate as the thiinble is driven into the flue. This 'outw'irdly turned iange 12\`-is preferably groovgd 'on .its` inner face 13- to t over the end'of the tube whichextends through the liue plate 15., The outer is preferably rolled back over ,the bead 14 4so as to provide a uniformthickness of flange and Aeffectuall'y protect v'the bead. -The inner surface 16 of thevtube is forned'somewhat tapering and -is reduced down to a thin edge at ll so that when this thiinble is in position in the tube no shoulder whatever will be left to permitV the lodging of foreign substances therebehind. This thimble maybe formed of soft sheet iron stock so that it lcan be readily drawn or formed into the desired shapeand after being positioned in the flue tube may be rolled'and expanded to lock the same therein when desired,

In the construction of-a fire tube boiler the law requires that the tubes shall pass through the ue plate and be rolled over, flanged or beaded on the outside of the plate. By this construction, it is found in practice that the tubes of a boilerwill last from six months to three years according to its uses ias .i be able to'make temporary' repairs so. asto il .and-particularly according to the chemical lproperties of the water in the boiler.

In some of the Western States the water is of such a nature as to eat out 'thefues in very short time. In .the-rum1ing'of locomotives and marine 'boilers and the like it is 'soften found of particular advantage to the engineers when 'a leaky 'tube is discovered to complete the trip without drawing the fire and still maintain the full capacityV of the boiler. Another important advantage of the invention' is that the bead 14 is absolutely protected from theflames of the fire box, ,so that burning oily of the bead is prevented and thethimble isl so shaped that a minimum surface is exposed to the action of the flames so that danger of 4burning oi of said thimble is greatly reduced.

' To accomplish such a repair my improved thimble may be passed by a bar into position inthe tube and forced home thus' eX- pandin the tube and edectually stopping'V the lea and later when the boiler can be spared from its regular service the repair struction, I have provided an enlarged flange 12 which will completely cover, inclosev andv protect the exposed end of' the tube and prevent them from leaking and so greatly prolong the active life of the boiler.

Another Jfeaturev of this invention is that by'making the flange of a large diameter it not only rotects the beaded end of the flue, but a, so reinforces and protects the exposed surface of the liuc plate and su again servesto prolong the life of this portion of the'. boiler. Then again when a crack vap- Eears in the iue plate between the due ends y the insertion of a number of my improved thimbles about the crack. the heads' reach over the ruptured surface so that the rupture is nearly closed and thisfas above described can be done without 'drawing the fire from the' boiler.

lMy improved thi'mble is anarticle complete initself adapted to b e formed at the very minimum expense complete by automatic machinery and ready to be instantly.

appliedand positioned by the attendant, a hammer being the only tool required.A

vThe reduction in expenseof manufacture is anitemto be considered in ak device of this character owing to the fact' that large numbers may be used as each boiler contains hundreds of tubes.

I claim: y

The combination with an end Wall of a boilerfand a flue of uniform thickness-and diameter having one end extending through said wall and provided with a bead engaging the Wall, of an exteriorly tapered tubular thimble driven into the tube to expand the same, vthe inner end of said thimble having a thin edge, the outer end of the thimble having an annular flange of substantially the same thickness as the thicker portion of the body ofthe thimble7 said flange being free of substantial projections, and

engaging'and covering said bead,A whereby burning olf of the bead is prevented.

In testimony whereof i JOHN F. MCKENNA.

I affix my signature. 

